Send the Premier League abroad! (From Your Local Guardian)

Send the Premier League abroad!

10:51am Monday 25th February 2008

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Excuse me for going against the grain on this one, but I have no problem with Premier League football matches being played overseas.

To an outsider, the world in which this country's top footballers and clubs operate is already as self-centred and sycophantic as Hollywood.

And the likes of Brad Pitt have no problem making multi-million dollar films anywhere in the world - or seeing them screened in the far-flung corners of the universe for that matter.

Top-level football in England is not real any more and to say the idea of Manchester United playing Aston Villa in Beijing, is selling the game - and the lower leagues - down the river is wide of the mark.

That happened more than 15 years ago, the day FA Premier League was born, by signing a deal with the devil for £49million a season, opening the floodgates for cash to pour in and out of the game.

The recent deal with Rupert Murdoch and Setanta is worth £500 million a year - with the lion's share going to those teams featured on television most often.

With some players earning in excess of £100,000 a week, is it any wonder American-based investors are needed to help finance Midland minnows like Derby County?

Can Premier League clubs afford not to look elsewhere cap-in-hand for more money to lavish on the latest baby-Bentley upstart?

Their counterparts in Spain and Italy would only beat them to it.

But what about the grassroots, I hear you cry?

Brentford boss Andy Scott rightly believes his side are producing a brand of football fans of the Bees' near neighbours - Chelsea and Fulham - would appreciate, if they only stepped back into the real world.

But maybe the Griffin Park chief should be careful what he wishes for. Successful sides attract more fans, but success - and money - only breeds contempt.

Does anyone have a soft spot' for Avram Grant's men these days?

High-flying Blue Square South side Hampton & Richmond Borough, working on a budget tight enough to mean they have no reserve team, have seen attendance figures rocket in recent weeks.

It seems disillusioned fans may already be turning their backs on top-level football - and its sky-high ticket prices.

And the Bees and Beavers of west London will be only too happy to welcome them in from the cold.

* This was published in the Richmond & Twickenham Times series on Friday, February 15, 2008.